Bottom flap for ice molds



Nov. 14, 1961 E. wlLBusHEwlcl-i 3,008,308

BOTTOM FLAP FOR ICE MOLDS Filed Feb. 16, 1950 by: 116m;

3,008,308 BOTTOM FLAP FOR ICE MOLDS Eugen Wilbushewich, Rotelstrasse 61,Zurich, Switzerland y Filed Feb. 16, 1960, Ser. No. 9,099 14 Claims.(Cl. 62-357) The invention refers to an ice mold having an upright bodyprovided with -a mold-closing bottom iiap which, to permit the downwardpassage of frozen goods on harvesting, can tilt open around a horizontalaxis.

In certain ice producing methods, eg. according to my U.S. Patent No.2,723,534, dated November l5, 1955, it is advantageous tightly to closethe ice mold by freezing on the bottom iiap all along the bottom flangeof the mold. Subsequent release of the iiap from the mold walls,following the freezing of the contents of the mold, can be effected byquickly warming up the mold walls or by mechanically breaking thefreeze-seal due to the elongation of the mold contents during freezing.In the above methods, there is a tendency for the mold contents tofreeze to the upper central part of the flap and thus to prevent theliap from opening and the frozen block from emerging from the lower endof the mold. `It becomes therefore necessary to break the block from theilap, which leaves on the surface of the flap a frozen-on hump,interfering with the free sliding movement of the frozen block along theflap. However, for the automatic functioning of an ice block plant it isimportant that the bottom flap of the individual molds open up as soonas the frozen mold content becomes thawed free from the mold walls.

Attempts have been made to prevent the freezing of the mold contents tothe bottom liap by providing on its upper surface a coat of ski wax, skilacquer, resin lacquer or thev like. It has been found, however, thiscoat was wiped -away after thepassage of only a few blocks. According toanother suggestion, the bottom flap may be thawed free from the adheringmold contents by placing a warm water jet against its outside, but thisis a cumbersome and costly method.

According to the invention, an ice mold with a. wall arranged about avertical axis for the gravity discharge of the frozen contents of themold downwardly has a hinged ap for closing the bottom of the mold andfor tilting it open to harvest the contents thereof after freezing, theiiap having on its inner side a raised rim facing the mold wall andwhich in the closed position thereof engages the bottom of the moldwall, the raised rim delining a recess whose surface has non-iceadhering properties. If the mold is of square or rectangular crosssection with four mutually perpendicular wall portions, the raised rimprojects inwardly beyond at least those wall portions of the mold atright angles to the hinge axis of the flap.

Thus, with the bottom tiap in the closed position, its raised rim can befrozen tight to the bottom of the mold wall. Upon the contents of themold freezing solid, the block will not adhere to the recess defined bythe raised rim of the flap. Consequently, there is nothing to hinder theopening of the flap when the ice-seal between the flap rim and the moldWall is broken. The edge of the block produced by the mold contents,which is parallel to the tilting axis of the flap, will then engage thetwo portions of the raised rim of the flap surface that project somewhatto the inside of those wall portions of the mold which are perpendicularto the tilting axis, with the result that the frozen block will nolonger come into contact with the lower part of the ap surface and willnot wipe across its non-freezing surface areas.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example a preferred embodimentof the invention. In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of the lower part of the mold walls withthe bottom flap closed land teilt FIG. 2 is a plan View of the ap (seenfrom above).

The freezing space 1 has a square cross section, and is somewhat splayeddownwardly. It is surrounded by four flat walls 2, 3, 4 and 5 which attheir lower part are jacketed by ya refrigerant evaporator space 6defined by the mold walls and surrounding jacket walls 7. A plurality ofarcuate sheets 8 are welded to the lmold walls, their lower ends beingwelded to the jacket walls 7 to deline with the mold walls a number ofevaporator channel spaces 9 running from the evaporator space 6 upwards,their top ends being connected to a refrigerant collector (not shown).Anrinlet pipe (not shown) for liquid refrigerant or moist refrigerantvapor leads into the evaporator space 6, 9. Furthermore, an outlet (notshown) for liquid refrigerant leads downwards from the evaporator space6.

A horizontal hinge pin 10I is provided below and parallel to wall 2 ofthe ice mold. A bottom flap 11 is hingedly mounted on this pin l0 andurged against the ice mold walls 2 5 by means, such as springs or acounterweight (not shown), so as to close the bottom of the freezingspace 1 of the ice mold. The top surface, of the iiap 11 has a raisedrim 12 which contacts the mold walls when the liap is closed.

In addition, this rim projects into the space 1 defined by lthe fourwalls of the mold. If desired it need only project towards the insidespace on the sides adjacent the two mold walls 3 and 5, i.e. those lyingat right angles to the hinge axis 10 of the bottom iiap.

The recessed surface 13 of the liap, surrounded by the raised rim 12, isconstituted by an ebony plate 14 placed into a stepped part 15 of themetal, e.g. aluminium, body of the bottom liap l1 and joined thereto bymeans of cementing means. The height of the step 15 is greater than thethickness of the ebony plate 14, resulting inthe surface 13 of the platelying below that of the raised rim 12.

In operation, the mold flap 11 is wetted with the liquid to be frozenand at the same time, the mold walls are cooled down by letting arefrigerant medium evaporate in the space 6 and the evaporation channels9. The raised surface l2 of the bottom ap `1l will thus become tightlyland securely frozen to the mold walls 2 5. The freezing space f1 is nowfilled with the liquid to be frozen, e.g. water. Continued evaporationof refrigerant in the spaces 6 and 9 will eventually freeze the liqu-idin the freezing space 1 to form an ice-block. The block, on freezing,will adhere to the mold walls 2 5 but not to the icearepellent ebonysurface of the recessed part of the flaps surface. Freezing of theliquid will cause elongation of the frozen contents of the mold in adownward direction, breaking the ice seal between mold walls and the rimof the bottom llap.

Subsequently, the Cold, evaporating refrigerant in the spaces 6 and 9 isreplaced by warm, gaseous refrigerant. This will warm up the mold walls2 5 to such a degree that the frozen mold contents is thawed free'and,consequently, will rest with its full weight on the ap 11. Because theflap becomes free all around, with no ice adhering, it will be pushedopen and tilted around its axis 10 by the emerging frozen block,overcoming the forces tending to keep the liap closed. As is shown inFIG. l, for two positions illustrated by dot-dash lines, the frozenblock will now engage the ap surface only with its edge 17 lyingparallel to the tilting axis 10 sliding along the inwardly projectingsurfaces 12 and 12, inside the space of the walls 3 and 5t, of theraised surface 12, and will not rub over the ebony plate 14.

The ice block dropping out of the mold will then be received by meansnot shown, e. g. a trolley with lowerable top, or chute, and removedfrom under the mold.

A layer of ski wax, ski lacquer or another freeze-prewith one specificembodiment thereof, it will beunder- Y stood that many modifications andvariations may occur to the skilled in the art, particularly afterbeneting from the present teaching, without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention.

I claim: p

1. An ice-making apparatus comprising a mold having a vertical wall; aap; hinge means secured to said wall and said ap, said hinge meanshaving a horizontally extending axis about which the ap may be tiltedfrom a mold closing position to an open positionpermitting the gravityharvesting of frozen contents of the meld, said flap having a raised rimfacing the mold wall and engaging the mold wall in the closed positionof the hap, said raised rim defining a recess and the surface of therecess having non-ice adhering properties; and refrigerating means forfreezing a liquid in said mold.

2. The apparatus of claim l, wherein said recess has a coating of asolid material having non-ice adhering prop-V erties, the thickness ofthe coating being less than the depth of the recess. A

3. The apparatus of claim'Z, wherein said material is a wax. l

4. The'apparatus of claim 1, wherein a web of a solid material havingnon-ice adhering properties is placed in said recess, the thickness ofthe web being less than the depth of the recess.

5. The apparatus Vof claim 4, wherein said web `is of wood. Y

6. The apparatus of claimy 5, wherein said wood is ebony.V

7. An ice-making apparatus comprising an ice mold having Va wall of fourmutually 'perpendicular portions arranged about ya vertical axis; a flaphinge means secured to said wall and to said ap, said hinge means havinga horizontal axis parallel to two of said wall portions and about whichthe flap may be tilted rom a mold closing position to Aan open positionpermitting the gravity harvesting of frozen contents of the mold, saidap having a raised rim facing the four wall portions and engaging saidportions in the closed position of the ap, the raised rim project-inginwardly beyond at least those wall portions perpendicular to the axisof said hinge means and defining a recess, the surface of the recesshaving icerepellent properties and refrigerating means for cooling saidwall so as to freeze a liquid in said mold.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said recess has a coating of amaterial having non-ice adhering properties, the thickness of thecoating being less than the depth of the recess.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said material is a Wax.

l0. The Yapparatus of claim 7, wherein a web of a material havingnon-ice adhering properties is placed in said recess, the thicknessofthe web being less than the depth of the recess.

, 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said web is of wood. Y Y

12. The `apparatus of claim l1, wherein said wood is ebony. i

13. The `apparatus of claim l, further comprising heating means forthawing 1a portion of said frozen liquid adjacent said rim.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising heating means forthawing a portion of said frozen liquid adjacent said rim.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 191,256Riker May 29, 1877 1,751,899 Whitfield Mar. 25, 1936 2,178,387 BeckerOct. 311, 1939 2,723,534 Wilbushewieh Nov. 15, 1955 2,878,659 Franceetal -..7 --.7 Mar. 24, 1959

